Container for food

ABSTRACT

A container for food is provided, including a bowl with a base, a side wall, and a bowl brim encircling the top, as well as a tightly sealing lid, if necessary, with the lid including a soft-elastic sealing material or being provided with a soft-elastic seal in the contact area to the bowl brim. Fastening elements are provided on the lid and/or on the bowl for a detachable fastening of the lid onto the bowl while applying pressure between the lid and the bowl brim. Two or more or the fastening elements are connected to one another such that their movale parts can be moved together by one slide bar each.

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to a container for food. In particular, thiscontainer comprises a bowl with a base, a side wall, and a bowl brimencircling the top as well as a tightly sealing lid on the bowl brim,when necessary. In the contact area with the bowl brim the lid comprisesa soft-elastic sealing material or is provided with such. Furthermore,fastening elements are provided, to mount the lid on the bowl in aremovable fashion, namely by applying a pressing force between the lidand the bowl brim.

In particular, food containers serving as freshness preservingreceptacles for storing and transporting foods should seal as tightly aspossible in order to prevent the oozing of liquids, as well as any airexchange between the interior of the container and the environment. Forthis purpose the lid of a container of the type mentioned at the outsetcomprises a soft-elastic sealing material, at least in the area that isput onto the brim of the bowl. Alternatively, a soft-elastic seal mayalso be provided in the contact area between the lid and the bowl brimin order to ensure the positioning of the lid on the bowl to be air andwater tight.

In order to ensure in larger containers with a volume of, for example,one liter or more, for the positioning of the lid on the bowl brim to bereally air tight it is mandatory that a permanent pressing force ismaintained between the lid and the bowl brim. For this purpose it isknown to provide separately operating mounting elements in the form ofpivotal lashes on the lid, which engage the bottom of the correspondingprotrusions at the exterior of the bowl in a clamping manner and thuspress the lid against the bowl brim, with the soft-elastic seal beingcompressed in the contact area between the lid and the bowl brim.However, in rectangular and/or cube shaped containers there is theproblem that the bowl side wall evades this pressure between the lid andthe bowl brim, at least at the longer sides, because a container of thetype mentioned at the outset is generally formed with a thin wall forreasons of weight and expenses and the stability of the side walls istherefore not always sufficient to create the counter force against thepressure at the bowl brim necessary for air tightness. Therefore, insuch containers it is necessary to provided fastening elements at allfour sides, which press the lid against the bowl brim.

It is obvious that this considerably worsens the handling of a foodcontainer of the type mentioned herein because, in the above-mentionedknown container the user must open a total of at least four clampingfastening elements embodied as pivotal lashes with his/her two hands inorder to be able to remove the lid from the bowl. This is naturally notbeing done in a single step.

SUMMARY

Based on this prior art, the object of the present invention is toimprove a container of the type mentioned at the outset with regard toits handling.

This object is attained in a container having the features of theinvention. Preferred embodiments and further developments of thecontainer according to the invention are described in the claims.

A container for food, embodied according to the present invention,essentially differs from prior art in that two or more fasteningelements are combined into an operating unit and that this operatingunit is embodied as a slide bar. In a container having a basicallyrectangular shape preferably two slide bars are provided, each of whichoperate a multitude of fastening elements so that the fastening elementsnot only create the pressure between the lid and the bowl brim in theproximity of the slide bar but also distributed over the circumferenceat the two sides without any slide bars. Therefore, on the one hand, theinvention facilitates the handling of a container of the present typesuch that only two operating units for operating all fastening elementsdistributed over the circumference are provided, in particular, thus thecontainer can be opened or closed in a single step, and, on the otherhand, such that the operating units are embodied as slide bars, whichagain allows a simplified handling in reference to the known pivotallashes.

As already mentioned, it is advantageous if an essentially rectangularcontainer, i.e. a container with a bowl having two side walls and twoend walls, is provided with a slide bar at each end wall, which slidebars simultaneously operate at least two fastening elements, which bothengage the corresponding end wall as well as simultaneously one or bothside walls.

The fastening elements may comprise, on the one hand, holding surfacesessentially extending horizontally and, on the other hand, latches,which engage the holding surfaces when closing the fastening elements.Preferably the latches and/or the holding surfaces are sloped in orderto each form a contact slope in reference to a horizontal plane so thatwhen sliding the latch onto the holding surface a movement of the lidoccurs in the direction of the bowl and thus the necessary pressure ofthe lid towards the bowl brim is created.

Preferably, the latches are embodied with a hook-shaped cross-sectionand mounted at the lid. On the other hand, this allows the holdingsurfaces to be very easily formed by a projection in the area of thebowl brim and, if necessary, be provided with recesses, through whichthe hook-shaped latches can be inserted and engage the holding surfacesby way of a horizontal shifting.

Further advantages result if at least one holding surface, beneficiallythe holding surfaces at the side walls of the bowl, is provided withguidance surfaces extending essentially parallel to a direction ofmovement of the corresponding latch and each being aligned approximatelyperpendicular to the holding surface. Preferably this guidance surfaceis formed by a lateral guidance bar. The hook-shaped latch then ensuresnot only that the lid is tightly positioned in a form-fitting manneragainst the upward acting forces at the bowl, but based on the lateralguidance surface also against a lateral displacement of the lid on thecontainer. It is obvious that this further improves the tightpositioning of the lid on the container.

Beneficially, the slide bars according to the invention are mounted onthe lid and, if necessary, connected with the latches also provided onthe lid; because, when the slide bars are mounted on the lid, they arelocated at that point of the container which is handled by the useranyway, when he/she wants to separate the lid from the bowl.Additionally, the bowl is then free from any movable parts, which isbeneficial regarding the handling of the bowl as well as regarding thecontamination of movable parts.

In order to, on the one hand, minimize the danger of injuries byhook-shaped latches and, on the other hand, still to achieve anappealing look, the lid and/or the slide bar are preferably providedwith roof-shaped edge surfaces, which laterally cover the latches. Thismay be embodied such that in the inserted position, the slide bars formthe edge surface of the lid, thus, when two slide bars are provided,form a type of divided ring extending over the entire circumference ofthe lid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention isexplained and described in greater detail using the attached drawings.In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a food container according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a container according to FIG. 1 with thelid removed;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the lid;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a slide bar removed from the lid;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a closed food container from the bottom;

FIGS. 6 a and 6 b are lateral cross-sectional views of the end of thecontainer, in the unlocked (FIG. 6 a) and the locked (FIG. 6 b)positions;

FIGS. 7 a and 7 b are views, partially in cross-section, of the lateralbrim region of the container; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of AN exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention shown here diagonally from the top. The containercomprises a bowl 1, with its fundamental shape being approximatelyrectangular, and thus having two end walls 2 and two side walls 3, aswell as a lid 4, which here is put onto the bowl 1 in an air-tightmanner. At each end, the lid 4 is provided with a slide bar 5, which isoperated by an engaging surface 6. The two slide bars 5 engage the edgeof the lid 4 such that they form a closed ring with a roof-shaped edgesurface 7. This ring is divided approximately in the middle, because thetwo slide bars 5 can be pulled outward in order to allow the lid 4 to beremoved from the bowl 1. Both the bowl 1 as well as the lid 4 and theslide bar 5 are preferably made from plastic, in particularpolypropylene, which is light, inherently stable, and resistant.

FIG. 2 shows the bowl 1 of the container without a lid in a similarperspective to FIG. 1. This bowl comprises a base 8 and theabove-mentioned end walls 2 and side walls 3. Slightly below a brim 9 ofthe bowl there is an encircling projection 10 with recesses 11 foraccepting the latches (not shown here), which are mounted on the slidebars 5. In the present exemplary embodiment, the brim 9 of the bowl isnot provided with a soft-elastic seal, because it would disturb the useas a bowl for food. Rather, a soft-elastic seal is provided in the lid4, which is discernible from the following figures. The bowl 1 is alsofree from the slide bars according to the invention or any other movableparts, so that it more or less represents itself to the user as aconventional bowl.

In a similar perspective view FIG. 3 also shows the lid 4 removed fromthe bowl with its two slide bars 5. In order to allow the lid 4 to beremoved from the bowl 1, both slide bars 5 are pulled outward so thatapproximately in the middle a gap is discernible between the tworoof-shaped edge surfaces 7 of the two slide bars 5. A contact area 12of the lid 4, visible in the gap, for placing it onto the brim 9 of thebowl 1 is provided with an inserted, soft-elastic seal 18, which is notdiscernible here, though.

The latches, which are covered by the roof-shaped edge surfaces 7 inFIG. 3, are discernible in FIG. 4, which again shows an isolated slidebar 5 in a similar perspective as in the previous figures. At theinterior side of the edge surface 7 a latch 13 with a contacting slope14 is discernible, which, when the lid 4 is put onto the bowl 1, isinserted into one of the recesses 11 in the projection 10 of the bowl 1and engages the projection 10 when closing the slide bar 5. This isfurther explained in the following drawings. At the interior side of theengaging surface 6, four vertical ribs (not shown here) are mounted inorder to, on the one hand, make the slide bar 5 more stable and, on theother hand, to engage the recesses 11 in the projection 10 of the end ofthe bowl 1 (FIG. 2), and to render the mechanical positioning of the lid4 on the bowl 1 even more stable.

FIG. 5 again shows the entire container, however, in a perspectiverepresentation from the bottom. Using this representation it isdiscernible how the lateral latches 13 each engage the holding surface15 formed by the projection 10 and by the contacting slope 14 (not shownhere) cause the desired pressure of the lid 4 onto the bowl 1 in thearea of the lateral walls 3. In the area of the end walls 2, the slidebars 5 are provided with the latch surfaces 16, which engage theprojection 10 at the end in order to create the desired pressure betweenthe lid 4 and the bowl 1 at the end as well. Here, too the holdingsurface 15 is formed by the bottom of the projection 10.

As discernible in FIG. 6 a, the above-mentioned holding surface 15 atthe end wall 2 of the bowl 1, formed on the projection 10, is providedwith a contacting slope 14 in order to effect a movement of the lid 4towards the brim 9 of the bowl when pushing the latch surface 16 ontothe holding surface 15. The contact area 12 of the lid 4 is providedwith a groove 17 facing the brim 9 of the bowl, into which a hollowprofile is inserted in the form of an encircling, soft-elastic seal 18.When pressing the lid 4 onto the brim 9 of the bowl, the seal 18 iscompressed, which ensures the air tightness and the lid sealing. Theslide bar 5 is displaced on a gliding surface 19 at the edge of the lid4 and here it is guided in appropriate guides (not shown). The closedstate of the slide bar 5 is shown in FIG. 6 b.

As mentioned above, FIG. 6 a shows the unlocked position of the slidebar 5, while FIG. 6 b shows the locked position thereof. In a respectivefashion FIG. 7 a shows a partial cross-section of a detail of thecontainer according to the invention in an unlocked position of theslide bar, while FIG. 7 b shows the locked position. In both FIGS. 7 aand 7 b, the latch 13 is shown in a cross-section as a fastening elementat the side wall 3 of the bowl 1 and its cooperation is discernible withthe holding surface 15 formed at the bottom of the projection 10 withthe contacting slope 14 of the latch 13. In FIG. 7 a it is alsodiscernible that the latch 13 can be inserted into the respective recess11 in the projection 10 of the bowl when the slide bar 5 is pulled out,after which the latch 13 can engage the holding surface 15 when theslide bar 5 (FIG. 7 b) is inserted, and by action of the contactingslope 14, a movement of the lid 4 towards the bowl 1 is created as wellas a corresponding formation of a pressure. Laterally the lid 4 is alsoprovided with a gliding surface 19 for guiding the slide bar 5.

FIG. 8 shows a detail from FIG. 5 in a view from below, namely thelateral latch 13 shown in FIG. 5 on the bottom right side, which isformed at the slide bar 5 with its lateral surface 7. The latch 13 isshown in a closed position, in which it engages the holding surface 15from the bottom. In the exemplary embodiment shown here, the holdingsurface 15 is provided with a guidance rib 20, which forms, on the sidefacing the bowl 1, a lateral guidance surface for the latch 13, whichextends approximately perpendicular to the holding surface 15 andessentially parallel to the direction of movement of the latch 13. Theslide bar 5 and with it the lid 4 are fastened by the latch 13 bothhorizontally as well as vertically. In this figure, additionally it isclearly discernible that the recess 11 in the projection 10 of the bowl1 is sized such that the latch 13, released from its engagement with theholding surface 15 and the guidance rib 20, can be guided upwardsthrough the recess 11 and thus does not provide any resistance to theremoval of the lid 4 in the opened condition of the slide bar 5.

The exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 through 8 for a containeraccording to the invention also clearly shows the combination offastening elements 15, 16 at the ends and side fastening elements 13,15, which can be operated with the very same slide bar 5. Both slidebars 5 can therefore ensure a sealing pressure between the lid 4 and thebrim 9 of the bowl not only at the ends but also at the side walls 3, inspite of the fact that only two slide bars 5 are provided connected toone engaging surface 6 each.

In the present exemplary embodiment the slide bars 5 are mounted on thelid 4, which offers advantages in handling, because the lid 4 is graspedanyway for opening and closing, and which releases the bowl 1 from anymovable parts. However, the slide bars 5 according to the invention cancertainly also be mounted on the bowl 1, in which case the lid would notnecessarily have any movable parts. A combination of those twoalternatives is also possible, i.e. that both the bowl 1 as well as thelid 4 are provided with movable parts. It is only important that groupsof fastening elements, embodied here by latches 13, 16 and holdingsurfaces 15, are connected and uniformly combined to an operating unit,namely a slide bar 5, so that with only two slide bars 5, the pressureforce can be guided to the bowl 1 and the lid 4 not only at the ends 3but also at the side walls 4, in the present example at a total of sixpoints.

By the present embodiment of the slide bar 5 with edge surfaces 7encircling the lid 4 an appealing look of the container according to theinvention results.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

-   1 bowl-   2 end walls-   3 side walls-   4 lid-   5 slide bar-   6 engaging surface-   7 edge surface-   8 base-   9 bowl brim-   10 projection-   11 recesses-   12 contact area-   13 latch-   14 contacting slope-   15 holding surface-   16 latch surface-   17 groove-   18 seal-   19 gliding surface-   20 guidance rib

1. A container for food, comprising a bowl (1) with a base (8), a sidewall (2, 3), and a brim (9) of the bowl encircling the top, as well as alid (4), tightly sealing the brim (9) of the bowl, with the lid (4) in acontact area (12) facing the brim (9) of the bowl including asoft-elastic sealing material or having a soft-elastic seal (18), andwith fastening elements (13, 15, 16) being mounted on the lid (4) and/orat the bowl (1) for a detachable fastening of the lid (4) to the bowl(1) while forming a pressure between the lid (4) and the brim (9) of thebowl, two or more of the fastening elements (13, 15, 16) each areconnected to one another such that movable parts (13, 16) can each bemoved together by a slide bar (5).
 2. A container according to claim 1,wherein two of the slide bars (5) are provided.
 3. A container accordingto claim 2, wherein the bowl side wall comprises two end walls (2) andtwo side walls (3), and one of the slide bars (5) operates fasteningelements (13, 16) on each of the end walls (3) while simultaneouslyengaging both the corresponding end wall (2) as well as at least one ofthe side walls (3).
 4. A container according to claim 1, wherein thefastening elements (13, 15, 16) comprise, on the one hand, essentiallyhorizontally extending holding surfaces (15) and, on the other hand,latches (13, 16) engaging the holding surfaces (15).
 5. A containeraccording to claim 4, wherein the latches (13, 16) and/or the holdingsurfaces (15) are sloped in reference to a horizontal plane in order toform a contacting slope (14).
 6. A container according to claim 4,wherein the latches (13, 16) comprise a hook-shaped cross-section andare mounted on the lid (4).
 7. A container according to claim 6, whereinthe latches (13, 16) are connected to the two slide bars (5) mounted onthe lid (4).
 8. A container according to claim 7, wherein the fasteningsurfaces (15) are formed by a projection (10) in an area of the brim (9)of the bowl.
 9. A container according to claim 8, wherein recesses (11)are provided in the projection (10) for forming the holding surfaces(15).
 10. A container according to claim 9, wherein at least one of theholding surfaces (15) is provided with a guiding surface, extendingapproximately perpendicular thereupon and generally parallel to adirection of movement of the corresponding latch (13).
 11. A containeraccording to claim 10, wherein the lid (4) and/or the slide bar (5) areprovided with a roof-shaped edge surface (7), which laterally cover thelatch (13).
 12. A container according to claim 11, wherein in aninserted condition, the slide bars (5) form edge surface (7) of the lid(4).
 13. A container according to claim 10, wherein the guiding surfacecomprises a guidance bar (20),